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09/26/2017 12:00 AMJust a few weeks after putting the former Academy School on the public’s radar once again by asking potential developers to complete a Request for Qualifications (RFQ), the Town of Madison has received numerous applicants, a good sign of developer or company interest in the building, according to First Selectman Tom Banisch.
On Sept. 7, Madison officially issued a RFQ, asking interested parties to come forward and prove they have the desire and the means to do something with Academy. Proposals were due back on Sept. 22.
“We received eight responses so far,” said Banisch. “We received two or three more calls from people asking if they could still submit, and we said that they could within the next two weeks.
“I don’t know what the number of respondents says about the interest in the project, but I can tell you that the quality of the responses is excellent,” he continued. “They addressed many of the points that we made in the RFQ and they are all involved with or have completed substantial projects in Connecticut and many throughout the U.S.”
Banisch previously said in the RFQ process, developers or interested parties don’t have to submit a project proposal, just prove that they could take on this kind of building through credit rating checks and development history. Banisch said while he has heard from numerous developers pitching some form of residential project, the town is open to a wide range of interested parties and ideas.
Planning & Economic Development Director Dave Anderson said the town wants to determine if there is interest in Academy School from a development perspective without immediately defining what that development might be.
Anderson said the RFQ is fairly open, meaning that the town outlined some information including the size of the parcel, interest in a long-term lease or acquisition arrangement, and concerns brought up by the public (including a desire to see a mixed-use for the building, preservation of some open space, and preservation of the front of the building), but places few restrictions on what could or could not be done to the building.
While Banisch said he has only glanced over the RFQs, he said it seems most parties are interested in having some portion of the project be residential, but many incorporated mixed-use components as well.
“I haven’t been able to go over them in a thorough fashion, but from a first glance through, it appears that all the developers’ projects have a residential component and many are involved in mixed use projects,” he said.
Once all of the RFQs are in and reviewed, the town will issue Request for Proposals (RFP) to qualified parties. Once the RFPs are in, the town is going to bring the public in to review the proposals. According to the timeline the town is currently using, Banisch said the RFP should go out on Oct. 19.